Afternoon Naps

Drawing from the psych-pop and bubblegum sounds of the 1960s, above all the Yellow Balloon and the Left Banke, Cleveland, Ohio musicians Tom Dechristofaro on vocals and guitar and Leia Hohenfeld on vocals and keyboards launched the Afternoon Naps in 2006. Bassist Mike Allan, multi-instrumentalist Augustus Gus, and drummer Craig Ramsey were added to complete the ensemble’s sweet aesthetic, enabling the group to issue its self-released debut mini-album, Sunbeamed, the following year. The resulting bright, sugary approach, one that drew comparisons to Saturday Looks Good to Me and the School, prompted Cloudberry Records to release the single “Can’t Stop the Weather,” after which the band played notable shows at the Athens Popfest and the NYC Popfest. These appearances caught the ear of Athens, Georgia’s Happy Happy Birthday to Me, which signed the Afternoon Naps before the end of 2008, and the label issued the group’s first full-length album, Parade, the succeeding September.